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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

pianoloverus
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/29/01
Posts: 19841
Loc: New York City

Originally Posted By: Mark_C

Originally Posted By: Damon

....he never asked to be talked out of playing it. I think it galls you that he isn't showing the proper respect for your god.

Sure, a big part of what galls me is what he expressed about the Ballade, but there's more, including that someone who views the piece that way isn't (isn't) appreciating what it is and is probably better off not playing it yet. Actually I don't believe that he truly thinks what he said about the piece and that it's just wishful thinking -- which is part of the problem too.

But, about what he asked or didn't ask: I assume you're a fairly sophisticated individual. And that therefore you realize that people don't necessarily express things directly.

Let's take a look at what he did ask directly: If we are to take it at face value, the only reason he started this thread was because of abstract intellectual curiosity about whether other people have ever done similar miscalculations, and how it turned out -- with no wish, unconscious or otherwise, to express his concern about his miscalculation and to get reactions that might affect what he does.

If you believe that.....well I won't even complete that thought, because I'm pretty sure that if you think about it, you don't believe that.

He didn't do that.People don't do that.Sorry.

If debrucey spends as much times as you do overanalysing everything he definitely won't finish the Ballade. He might not even make it through breakfast before it's time for dinner. Fortunately, I don't think he has this problem.

Debrucey is a serious conservatory student. The idea that he doesn't have proper respect for any composer or any piece of music is quite silly, I think. He's decided to devote his life to this pursuit. Even if, for the sake of argument, debrucey is not showing proper respect for this piece the idea that someone should be personally offended by that is very silly.

Well, Mark has been the one talking all the time on how difficult this work is and how you're basically underestimating its difficulty. And he's also the one to be using constantly the haha emoticon, so I quoted that with the haha... Probably not a pun, but fun none the less for me!

I wished I would have followed this thread since its genesis. It's always been rather interesting for me to watch other people's progress on repertoire. I would say you will be fine. The 4th Ballade is really captivating, but not nearly as hard as it sounds, IMHO. Now, I just wish I could thin down my required repertoire for college to one ballade for two months. As of now, I'm expected to have perfected Les Adieux, the Grieg Concerto, Schubert D.935, and Ginastera's first sonata by December. Good fortunes and happy practicing!!

Debrucey, I'm in a similar [although much less serious] situation - I've been spending to much time polishing my Beethoven Sonata that I've completely ignored learning parts of it....and my teacher told me two days ago to have the whole thing memorized and relatively playable by our next lesson [Monday]. I'm not prepping for any performance right now but I can definitely feel the strain of having to fly through the learning process...but it's actually boosting my confidence a lot because I'm figuring out I can learn music pretty dang quick if I need to!

To continue with the mad thread-bumping...I also did some bad planning and will be performing this Ballade in a few days...and I gave myself too little time to prepare in the same vein .

Speaking of which (for this ballade), I realized that the first theme that the left hand plays - the descending scale - becomes the counterpoint in the polyphonic section, and is also used as other transition material throughout the rest of the piece. I wasn't aware of how tightly this piece was constructed until recently..

“Loveliest of all is the Ballade in F minor Opus 52. “It’s witchery is irresistible” says Huneker.The motives of the first theme recur so often, especially (a) that the inflection must be artfully varied to avoid monotony. Just how these nuances should be applied — for instance, whether the repetition of (a) should be fainter or stronger in any particular place — can hardly be determined beforehand; a good pianist had best trust the inspiration of the moment to give it the right flexibility to his performance.

This will accord with the extremely intuitive character of the piece, which is a whole from a form that on the surface seems disjointed. It is advisable to start with coda (immediately after the five long pianissimo chords) quite moderately in time and force, increasing the speed when you feel safe. An accelerando of this kind is easy and effective, whereas it is humiliating and ineffective to begin at top speed and be obliged to slacken. A broadening of tempo should always sound intentional, never as if forced by technical difficulty.”

My own take relates to the first tricky 13 measures (but happily going at an easy Andante con moto gait)... where the ever-inventive Chopin develops a sort of syncopated treble rhythm ... by lacing in an “inner voice” to his broad octave chordal theme ... once you get over this finger-busting passage, the going gets easier.

The opening comment ... “It’s witchery is irresistible” should arm the pianist to beard the lion in his den .

PS Lions are flesh-eating ... however Androcles plucked a thorn from the paw of a lion so they say ...which helped him to outlive the munching of wild beasts in the Colosseum ... but then, I wasn't around at the time to confirm.

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 19968
Loc: New York

Originally Posted By: debrucey

Same.

Oh.

I think it's an unfortunate rule.And if it was me, in such a situation I would have tried to get an exception. But in any event, if you had said so we wouldn't have been suggesting so hard that you might change it.

If you did say it and I kept saying "change it" anyway, I apologize.

(I know you said it had been submitted, but didn't notice you saying it was anything like you "had to" go with that.)

I hadn't submitted it then, but I have now.Everything this year is leading towards my final recital. As hard as it was learning the Chopin in 2 months, I'm glad I forced myself to do it because I am now better prepared for my final recital than I would be had I taken the easy option and learned or relearned something else.